I’m back from my days in Galicia and Asturias, no pens, no laptop, no newspapers, and just a girlfriend, Martin Amis’ Money and Ian McEwan’s Saturday to keep me company, lovely.

And yesterday I read the news of the past 10 days all at once; The Observer is in trouble and could be binned (where we going to read Rawnsley, Cohen and Mitchell altogether?); Mikhail Saakashvii believes Putin wants to kill him, possibly through destroying social networking sites and South Ossetia supporting bloggers (war really is not war anymore [hat-tip Jean Baudrilliard); Miliband wants the UK to adopt US style primaries (because the party is more popular than the candidate? This was not the case in Norwich North, are we asleep?); 120 Labour MPs are to stand down before the election call (because of that fee that cannot be claimed once the election is called. And being in opposition is not financially propserous. I almost fell off my chair when I read in the Observer that an unnamed Labour MP had said “I’m off. You can’t earn a decent living here any more […] It is not somewhere I want to be. I want to earn some money”. Good riddance. Does anybody know who it may be?)

Tories are now led by, not only a former fascist, but one who is now backing the Lisbon Treaty (what a little story ha ha! William Hague wasn’t lying when he said Kaminski was a reformer); Obama is being likened to Hitler and Stalin for his health reforms, some calling it philosophically wrong, some more established names going a little further (I suppose the lottery of the invisable hand is a much fairer way to exclude the poor from having healthcare); and Labour bloggers are all fleeing (nonsense, of the highest order!).

Stephen Hester, chief exec of RBS has said “There are encouraging signs … but I think it will take many years for the imbalances that got us into this position to be corrected”, and John Varley, chief exec of Barclays has said economy will “grow again in 2010”. Though Nick Cohen reminds us of 1929 in the US. With that crash, in spite of Hoover’s reply to a delegation of bishops and bankers concerned about unemployment that they came too late for depression was over, stability didn’t arrive until 1937.

And to top it off, James Lovelock has given us a final warning of the the destruction of the earth and of Gaia. Although he does bring “good” news for some; “lifeboat” countries such as Japan, NZ, Tasmania, Hawaii “perhaps” and Britain will be alright.

So perhaps I could’ve done without reading the paper. But I did for a moment forget how unpopular Labour are at the moment, so under every cloud…

Whether Britain acts against ISIL in Syria isn't about provoking them or if they pose a threat, but whether our actions will be effective and justified. Whatever we decide, we will get attacked by ISIS; it's their aim and in their interests. The bigger question is whether we should join our international allies against a terror group that has alrea […]

When Islamic State came to notoriety last year, many commentators including myself made assumptions about its plans. I wrote for Al-Jazeera that it “poses a far greater threat to Muslims than it does to the west” - and this has remained true. I also said its impact on community relations in Europe and the US “could be devastating” - an obvious prediction tha […]

As is common these days, I get abused on Twitter by some lefties outraged that I’ve not fallen in line with popular opinion on the left. In my latest column for LabourList I show why the assumption that Jeremy Corbyn will appeal to non-voters or UKIPers with his ‘clear principles’ or economic populism seem wildly optimistic. Britons who don't vote or op […]

A few weeks before the General Election in May, I found that the National Council of Hindu Temples – a registered charity – posted a message calling on British Hindus to vote Conservative. It was clearly in violation of the Charity Commission rules, which state that charities cannot be politically aligned, and I complained. The […]

"The revolution doesn't start a thousand miles away, it starts with you." It could be a statement put out by ISIS, the group that has encouraged its sympathisers all over the world to take action in defense of the Caliphate. But actually that's the strapline on the front page of National Action, a neo-Nazi group in the UK that is committe […]

By Keith Simpson MP Over the past few weeks as the EU (Withdrawal) Bill grinds its way slowly through the Chamber of the House of Commons it has been noticeable that many MPs take refuge in the library to read and to sleep. This litany will continue for many, many months. Christmas is a time to catch up on reading and to spot purchases for family and friends […]

This is an article I wrote for the Saturday edition of the ‘i’ newspaper on Saturday. It was published HERE. ‘It’s all about you, isn’t it?’ wrote the rather angry listener who texted my LBC radio show. ‘How dare you question the Prime Minister like that!’ How dare I, indeed. And there was me thinking that I was doing my job. Back in early October, Theresa M […]

Following his ill-judged retweets of three Britain First tweets, Donald Trump is now turning his ire onto Theresa May. He tweeted yesterday: “@Theresa_May don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive radical Islamic terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”. Further evidence if we needed it of the President’s warped na […]

The Tory rebel Remainers celebrated defeating the government and provoked fury among colleagues by downing glasses of white wine in the Pugin Room following the vote. Rebel ringleaders Anna Soubry, Antoinette Sandbach, Heidi Allen and Bob Neill got the party started, jubilantly scrolling through Twitter on their phones before they were joined by Nicky Morgan […]

The government has been defeated on what remainers refer to as a “meaningful vote” on the final Brexit deal – but what is really a naked attempt to subvert the referendum result. MPs voted 309 to 305 for Dominic Grieve’s amendment. The government lost by four votes. Stay tuned for the Tory rebels… UPDATE: 12 rebels confirmed as Morgan, […] The post Remainers […]